Seamless garments are substantially completed garments formed on knitting machines and offer several advantages to garment manufacturers. Design flexibility, manufacturing simplicity, and near-complete automation of the garment production process are just a few. For example, many types of garments are possible including outerwear, e.g., sweaters, and undergarments, e.g. brassieres, underwear, etc. Because knitting machines form substantially all of the garments, little additional processing is required for these garments to be “ready-to-wear.”
Consumers value dimensional stability in garments. Dimensional stability can be thought of as the ability of a garment to maintain its shape during wear. Dimensional stability may be influenced by garment design, fabric structure in the garment, and yarn construction. For seamless garments, however, the various openings in the garments and the absence of seams undermine garment dimensional stability. Because the openings in seamless garments are typically formed in a single fabric, the garment is subject to distortion and may not maintain its shape over the life of the garment. The absence of sewn seams, which improve the strength and durability of a garment, may limit the ability of a garment to withstand and recover from distortion.
While seamless garments have been made, none have addressed the challenges of producing a seamless knitted brassiere with targeted areas of dimensional stability. There is a need, therefore, for an improved seamless knitted brassiere, and in particular for a seamless knitted brassiere with improved strap and brassiere stability.